John's avatarJohn

Born 1946. Since retiring (maths teacher) have spent an increasing amount of time on crosswords, something that was impossible before – am not in the sub-ten minutes league and surely never will be. Do The Times every day (more often than not in over half an hour), also an assortment of other puzzles. Did Azed monthly for some years and entered his clue-setting competitions, occasionally with some success (I even won once, had 38 VHCs and 140 HCs — yes, I kept a record, sad isn't it) but not enough for my liking. I've set a few crosswords: five in Oxford Today, a few on Derek Harrison's website, and five in The Independent, under the name Vernon. Also play a lot of chess and golf, although as I age I'm getting weaker at both.

Independent 7762/Klingsor

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The usual (although he is a fairly new contributor) good crossword from Klingsor. There is a nice range of clue-types and some of them are very clever. Maybe there is some Nina here but … Read more >>

Independent 7748/Monk

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There was a time when Monk’s crosswords were the ones I anticipated most eagerly of all. Which suggests that I am lukewarm about this one: not the case; it was easier than his … Read more >>

Independent 7743/Dac

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As always a silky-smooth production from Dac. Some of the surfaces are, even by his high standards, quite excellent. Across 1 CHAP EL{i} 5 APPOSITE — (op(rev). sit) in a PE — breathtakingly … Read more >>

Independent 7733/Phi

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The usual very neat offering from Phi. Many of the clues are simple in construction, but nevertheless are efficiently done and of a high standard; and they are not immediately obvious. Because of … Read more >>

Azed 2042

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The usual good crossword from Azed. It took me much the same time as I always take, which suggests that it wasn’t particularly difficult, but with all the endless thumbing of Chambers so … Read more >>

Independent 7719/Dac

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The typical excellent Dac crossword with nothing at all controversial. There are one or two slightly unusual words, or unusual uses at any rate, but they are clear enough from the wordplay. Across … Read more >>

Independent 7709/Phi

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As usual a good crossword from Phi.  If anything the clues are even better-constructed than usual: they can all be explained easily after the event, although they are not necessarily always easy. One … Read more >>

Independent 7695/Dac

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As always a lovely crossword from Dac. I solved it online and didn’t time myself, but there seemed to be nothing of any great difficulty here: it all went in very smoothly, something … Read more >>

Azed 2036

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What one expects: only a handful of clues were solvable without a sometimes protracted wade through Chambers. Someone somewhere may know enough words to solve these things without dictionary help, but I certainly … Read more >>